Death's Bittersweet
by Jadecoyote
Summary: Jack, after the whole Christmas happing he questions his thoughts and desires. He happens one magical night something that could change his entire life. (sorry for sloppy spelling ang grammer)
1. Default Chapter

** Death's Bittersweet  
** by Jadecoyote  
Rated: PG-13  
(Authors Note: I do Not own Nightmare Before Christmas or any of the characters in it except my vamp character Lenore. Yes This is an ANTI-SALLY FIC!The poem is by my friend Lindsey. Read and Review, Oh yah DON'T Flame  
or I'll send Lock, Shock and Barrel after you!)  
  
"The kiss was ice cold just as cold as the heart.

With the eyes filled with ice they took one last look.

A sharp swift pain inflected upon my cream white flesh.

the air was cold and frigid I looked down in shock.

Blood seeped through my clothes and stained the dagger.

I laid there on the ground the dirt had soiled my back side.

As I laid there taking my last breaths the cool air filled my lungs ever so faintly.

Thoughts of my life.

Tears drizzled down my cheeks it felt as if the the tears were slits under my eyes.

Releasing my last gasps of breath into the world.

My eye lids grew heavy.

My sight grew black. Goodbye.

- Lindsey Mclaughlin  
  
A silence filled the town that was usually bustling. The holidays had came and gone and had started to settle after the whole christmas debacle. It was late at night and sleep had come over the town of Halloween. The street lights were the only lights lit except the one in the home of Jack Skellington. The fire roared in the fireplace as the skeletal figure paced in front of it. His thoughts seem to drift over the events that had proceeded that night where the moon shone so bright, and a million children nearly didn't have Chirstmas. So much was going threw his skull about that and Sally, the one who cared about him and tried to help him. He found he could not sleep or think of things too much. Jack remembered a night not long ago that he had stood on the hill in the middle of the pumpkin patch when the snow blanketed the ground. Now the memorie of that had faded and it was all quiet now. He was bemused and decided he had to get out of the cramped conditions of his mansion tower. Slowly he went down the spiriling stair down to the large flat of his mansion house and opened the door leaving Zero, his very faithful ghost dog sleeping in his basket probally dreaming about the shiny events that had once went on so long ago. He opened his door and stepped down the stone steps pushing the gate and exiting up the path. Quietly he stewed on his problems as he looked down at the path to the pumpkin patch, his usual haunt.  
Sally had saved his life and tried to help him every step of the way, yet something was bothering him that perplexed him. He glanced up at the muscians as he passed , then stopped dead as he heard what he distinctly knew as singing. His mouth formed an o shape knowing it was coming from the top of the hill. Moving at a faster pace he looked up from the large gates. threw the black bars he saw her. A young girl dressed in a long red gown and had long golden hair. He could not see much from this far away so he slowly moved inside the graveyard watching her sing with a sort of facination. He had never in his entire eternity heard anything so beautiful in his entire life. Knowing his history of curiousity he moved forward not thinking that he would disturb her singing. Her singing in some way reminded him of when he discovered Christmas Town and this excited her. Standing at the bottom of the hill he watched her trying to himself explain where she came from. Was she an angel from Christmas Town that got lost? or something else? he did not know, but was overly excited at this concept. The crackling of a leaf came from under his shoe before he could stop it and heard the song stop. She gasped and turned her gaze meeting his, amd for the first time he got a chance to the women's azure blue eyes making him gasp the same time as she.  
"I'm sorry miss..I didn't mean to frighten you...who are you?",he asked in his ususally friendly tone of voice. She seemed surprised by this and opened her mouth and spoke to him as he slowly walked up the hill.He finally got a good look at her. She had long golden hair that fell down her slender swan like neck. Her figure was slim, yet he noticed her ivory skin that made it odvious that she was alive.  
"My name is Lenore...and you would have to be noone but Jack, the Pumkin King...it is an honor to meet such a great man",she said giving a small bow that nearly stopped his undead heart. As he put a hand out without thinking about it and gently touched her arm with his skeletal hand.  
"Are you here alone..Lenore?", he asked gently and could not help, but smile when she nodded. She did not take her eyes off him as she looked up at him.  
"I came to see you Jack...I have always wanted to meet you...",she says softly standing there. If he could he would have blushed. He felt flattered by this, his heart thumping in his ribcage.  
"And why is that, may I ask?",he asked taking a step closer to him. He wasn't sure why she had come to see him. He bearly knew her, but he felt a strange something at the pit of his stomach.  
"I remember the time when the sky was so dark and the moon was bright, when every small child in the world was tucked in bed waiting for Santa to come...,she glanced at him then continued.  
"You were amazing at your ambition, though you went about it a little diffrent then how it is supposed to go..I admired your desires..",she says glancing away.  
"You are legend..",she says softly her words final as she stood there with him. He felt the want to hold her but fought this sudden agitated emotion as he looked down at her.  
"Come, we can speak at my mansion.I take it you did not come here to stand here all night",he says in an amused tone of voice.  
  
Meanwhile Sally sat in the window of a small home she had bought after the whole Sandy Clause thing. She could think of nothing but Jack. Coming to a a final plan she left her house closing the door behind her as she headed for his mansion. Walking up the street she saw him walking up the steps to his house and her heart leapt in her throat. Then she saw the young women and ehr heart fell like a rock in a well. She realized feeling silly that she should not be jealous and Jack was probally showing her around and walked to the edge of the gate.  
"Hi Jack!", yelled Sally as she moved her hand up in a wave. Jack turned abruptly and nearly lost his footing till the girl grabs him by his bow tie to help him back, yet he fell against her his eyes wide as he took a step back and gave a slow smile. Sally marched up those steps trying to not show jealousy.  
"Who is your Friend, Jack?",she asked a note of harshness in her voice. Jack sputtered trying to get out what he wanted to say. Yet Lenore brought her red lips togather and smiled cruelly.  
"My name is Lenore....and..you are?",she said making Sally sound as if she was nothing but a tramp.  
"I'm Sally, Jack's Girlfriend",Sally said firmly trying to get the point across. Yet frowned seeing that the girl's smile had not faulted as she looked up at Jack once again.  
  
(i'm gonna leave yah there for now)


	2. 2

To be to Night

By Jadecoyote

Rated: PG-13

Jack sat across from this women by the name of Lenore. He was not sure what to think as she reached over and with careful digits she picks up the tea cup and brings it to her lips giving him a warm smile. The tea cup was enlaced in spider web pattern and a skull on the side. He watched her with his hollow sockets his thoughts on why she had come to Halloween Town.

"So that girl is your girlfriend",she said in an offhanded voice finally breaking the silence that bore down on them threatening to swallow then whole. He put down his tea cup and let you a breath as he watched the light touch her golden hair but blinked brining himself back to reality.

"Yes. She helped me after I got into a bit of trouble",he replied he wanted to sound proud of Sally, but his voice shook. Her azure eyes looked at him, they seem to startle him throwing him off his train of thought. Jack's only conclusion was that her eyes were like the ocean he had passed over when he was driving threw the air on his destined route and looked down on it. Lenore seemed to have taken in his words not with the admiration he usually got from his "fans" in the town but with pensive thought.

"I recall that was the night when you took up the role as Santa and well did run into a few bumps on the way",she said slowly causing him to open his mouth wide as he leaned forward,which might have seemed funny to anyone who would have seen it.

"How did you know about that?",he asked his deep voice showing a hint of suspicion. A small voice inside of his head told him that he should worry about where Sally went since she left in such a hurry. Lenore's sweet voice brought him back to attention as she answered his question with a casual tone.

"Jack I know because I well have heard from word of mouth about the events of this town and its Pumpkin King",she said looking at him as she placed her tea cup on the coaster.

"Do you want my opinion on your relationship though I am not an expert and you hardly know me.",she said trying to keep her voice from sounding strange. Jack nodded slowly but was awestruck at her question.

"I think that..well that you could do better. I mean she seems really nice and that whole bit, but she had to do large things to get your attention it sad. What I am getting to is that if she was really the one for you wouldn't you have noticed her before then? Also you and her seem to have different likes of things",she says watching him. Jack had two options to stands and defend his love for Sally and cast this women away. His second option was to take her advice and leave Sally thinking their relationship a love of convenience. Before he could answer her the familiar barking of Zero filled his ears and he turned his head and saw Zero zipping threw the room. The ghost dog approached Lenore and without even a growl he flew into her arms and started licking her face as she laughed and petted the top of his head trying to stifle a giggle.

"Down boy",she said lightly as her eyes fell on Jack then around the room. Zero then barked again and started to float up the black spiral stairs leading to the tower. Jack rose to his feet calling after Zero. Lenore rose also and followed Jack as he started to follow. Jack laughed and looked back at Lenore. She smiled gently and let out a chuckle then cleared her throat.

"Well Jack I must be going..",she says as she slowly makes her way to the door as Jack frowned. She saw his frown and shook her head

"I want to get more acquainted with you. I will be staying with the witches at their tower",she says and waves a smile on her ruby red lips as she walked out the door leaving him on the first step of the spiral stairs. Had he driven her away from him? He wondered that to himself as he just stood there her image imbedded in his head like a memory long since past.

(I hope you like it)


	3. Getting to Know You

Getting to Know You

by Jadecoyote

Rated: PG-13-ish

(author's note: Sorry for typos on this chapter, this computer doesn't have a spellcheck)

The next day Jack opened his eyes to the rooster letting out its shrieking cry to the quiet morning. Jack felt as if he was dreaming when he tossed his thin legs over the side of the bed and sat up, one eyes opening after the other. He yawned bringing one boney hand to his face wiping it over his skull lightly as his vision came into focus. Zero barked loudly as he rose up the stairs and jumped on Jack making him fall back on the four poster bed.

"Down boy!" Jack chuckled as he stroked the ghost dog's floppy ears. Wondering suddenly if Lenore had just been a dream. Some torrid fantasy of a ghostly women. Getting up finally he walked to his spider patterned window looking out at the town. Below the witches were heading to the market and with them was the one he couldn't stop thinking about, Lenore. The tall witch and the really short one were tugging on the young women's arm and pointing to the diffrent things that hung off carts and tables. It was the hussle and bussle of the day, something a visitor would never see. Lenore was dressed today in a black gown that accented her slim figure making Jack grip the window sill a little harder then he meant to. Suddenly to Jack's surprise Lenore had looked up at the window where he was standing and giving him a faint smile. Smiling his wide grin he raised his hand and waved back as he retreated back inside the mansion. Letting out a soft sigh he looked around the wide round room. This strewn christmas lights and decorations has been taken down quite some time ago and the memory was one that he drudged up once and a while. When he first discovered Christmas Town it felt like a good thing, but the aftermath was overwhelming, though it ended fine after all.

Suddenly Jack heard a knock at the door making him jolt as he glanced at the stairway spiraling down and started to walk down them at a fast pace. He lost his footing suddenly and trips on the bottom steps. Quickly he brushed himself off and walked to the door his heart beating quickly.

"L-..Sally",he said feeling his heart sink into his stomach. He did not understand why he was actually unhappy to see her. He loved her after all just lately his mind was elsewhere. Placing his hand on his fore head he smiled at the women before him. Sally stood there an expectant expression on her face almost smug.

"Jack I was thinking..do you want to go to the market fair today with me..",she says. How could he say no? If he did she would be suspicious and he really didn't want to drive her away. He cared about her so he swallowed his breath and nodded. She must of taken it as a sign as she grabbed onto his thin arm and lead him down the stairs, her head up high in pride. Closing the gate behind them he proceeded to the market with her as ghouls and creatures greeting him as he passed. Before his eyes their was chatter of buying and selling items that pleased the eye. The usual bit and bobs of pumpkin lights and cat tongues. Sally walked over to the booth with the many colored string and cloth. Jack felt silly just standing there like a husband holding his wife's purse. He heard a women laughing and turned his head seeing Lenore standing there with the witches as they looked over the herbs and cauldrons. Their eyes locked for a moment as she looked down at the mandrake packet she held in her hand. Jack felt as if his heart was going to explode in a million pieces as he stood there, his arms dropped to his side.

He knew the tall tale feeling that he had felt only once before. That famous day that has been now known to him recordeds in worlds beyond, when he Jack Skellington discovered Christmas Town. Now he knew what he was feeling, the love the excitement that has never died inside his burning soul. He also felt a swell of something else growing in his non beating heart..love?

(hahahahaha i'm gonna leave it till later..please review if you dare...unless your Sally )


	4. It Never Ends

It Never Ends

Jadecoyote

Rated: PG-13

(Author's note: Thank you very much reviewers, those who oppose to the subject matter or the new relationship I am going to add insult to injury. To others regarding spelling and grammar I will do my best to work on it. The song lyrics are from _Taking Over Me, _by Evanescence. Again NMBC isn't mine! And NO I don't have Tim Burton tied up in my closet)

_you don't remember me but i remember you_

_i lie awake and try so hard not to think of you_

_but who can decide what they dream?_

_and dream i do..._

Jack tossed and turned as he laid, bone body sprawled against the thin mattress. When he dreamed he thought of her, and when he opened his eyes lone darkness was his. Throwing his legs over the end he rose from in a restless haze. Deciding that he would feel nothing but this grueling weariness he walked to his private library that was his favorite thing to do. He walked up the spiraling steps and gazed around the bookshelves, moonlight streaking against the dusty books and wooden windowsills. Laying across in the far off corner illuminated was a leather bound journal he could have sworn he had never seen before. Blinking he reached his hand forward and took hold of it. Carefully lifting it up he brought it before his face. He examined it carefully before cradling it in his boney hand. Moving to the spider patterned room below, he crossed the room and sat down in the turned off electric chair. He let the digits of his fingertips move against the the cover then flipped it open. Staring at the first page he took in the scent of the dust and aged pages.

"What is this? I don't remember having a journal here before." he said out loud as a smile came to his lips. The scrawling was in blue ink seeming from a long time ago. The first lines came to his vision.

"Captain. John Ellington 1913." was written across the top making his curiosity seem to seer like a fire within his soul. Turning page after page the silhouette of a photo fell through the pages. He caught it before it floated to the ground, holding it between thumb and forefinger. The picture was of a tall man in a uniform with dark eyes and a pale face standing behind a women sitting in a chair. He gasped as if startled and dropped the picture watching it land face up on against the black painted wood. It was her..alive.

_i believe in you_

_i'll give up everything just to find you_

_i have to be with you to live to breathe_

_you're taking over me.._

He crouched down and again gazed at the black and white photo. She was dressed in the fashion of a time that he wasn't sure about. Jack could not remember a time before being in Halloween Town, but this caught him feeling strange and almost lost. She was smiling and so was the man, who quite strangely reminded him of someone, but he couldn't place it. The feeling of deja vu made him grasp the photo again and force himself to stare at it with wide eyes. Gazing intently at the man with a happy face and hands on the women's shoulders. He squinted at the small printed words at the bottom.

"John and Emily Ellington, May 2, 1912" he whispered this over and over. Realization hit him almost too quickly. Lenore was Emily, he could tell by the familiar face and brillantance of her joy. He flushed with jealousy seeing this John happy at her side. She had a husband in life and it left him with a knot in his once living stomach.

_have you forgotten all i know_

_and all we had?_

_you saw me mourning my love for you _

_and touched my hand_

_i knew you loved me then_

His thoughts drifted to Sally feeling a lostness in his torrid emotions. Sally loved him, but how did he feel? His fingertip traced the tiny letters inscribed on the bottom as he glanced up at the picture. John Ellington? It reminded him of his own name...but how could it be. Could he be a connection to his past life. It seemed fitting that he and Lenore were fated to meet. Maybe..just maybe..this was their second meeting.

_i believe in you_

_i'll give up everything just to find you_

_i have to be with you to live to breathe _

_you're taking over me_

Now he knew he had to speak to her and tell her what he found. But there seemed to be a strange thing to discuss. He wondered if she knew about this already and that is why she came to sleepy Halloween Town. It was no conscienidence.

_i look in the mirror and see your face_

_if i look deep enough_

_so many things inside that are just like you_

_are taking over _

(I hope you liked it...again sorry about the grammer and spelling. I hope it was compelling enough for you to keep reading. Please review)


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